Eliminating toxic chemicals

Toxic chemicals in our environment threaten our rivers and lakes, our air, land, and oceans, and our future. The production, trade, use, and release of many synthetic chemicals are now widely recognised as a global threat to human health and the environment.Yet, the world's chemical industries continue to produce and release thousands of chemical compounds every year, in most cases with little or no testing or understanding of their impacts on people and the environment.

Greenpeace is campaigning for the manufacturers of electronic goods to take responsibility for their products from production through to the end of their use. To prevent mountains of e-waste being dumped in developing countries, manufacturers must design clean electronics with longer lifespan, that are safe and easy to recycle and will not expose workers and the environment to hazardous chemicals.

Genetic engineering

Genetic engineering enables scientists to create plants, animals and micro-organisms by manipulating genes in a way that does not occur naturally. These genetically modified organisms (GMO) can spread through nature and interbreed with natural organisms, thereby contaminating the environment and future generations in an unforeseeable and uncontrollable way.

Greenpeace campaigns for safety measures such as the labeling of food containing genetically modified ingredients, and the separation of genetically engineered crops and seeds from conventional ones. We also oppose all patents on plants, animals and humans, as well as patents on their genes. Life is not an industrial commodity. When we force life forms and our world's food supply to conform to human economic models rather than their natural ones, we do so at our own peril.

The latest updates

1971. This was the year it all began. You’ve heard the story about how a boat load of (very brave) volunteers and journalists sailed to Alaska to stop the American government from running nuclear tests? The U.S government started...

Is the food you and your family eat everyday really free from synthetic chemical pesticides? Join us. Challenge yourself to switch to organic food and help promote pesticide-free food for families everywhere. Together, we can fix the...

Today (21 September), around the globe, we mark Peace Day knowing that for many, peace is nowhere to be found. Not today. And unless things change dramatically, not any time soon.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu visited the Greenpeace...

Today marks the International Day against Nuclear Tests. Since 1945, more than 2000 nuclear tests have been carried out at more than 60 locations around the globe. Nuclear weapons were designed and tested to be the ultimate doomsday...

We literally have the power to change the world. When we tell our families and friends why ecological farming makes sense, we start to heal our bodies and the planet. We can make smarter food choices when we shop, cook or go out to eat...

Dear Friends,
As I look out my window here in Amsterdam, winter is nearly here, and with it comes the retreat of another year, and the passing of what has been to make way for the spring and the new. As the days get shorter and the...

This is a simple beginning to a very thorny story. In the foot hills of many communities are the major makers of food for every citizen, local and global. The hero in this story has extraordinary super being power, has the will power...

Today, the 11th of March 2015, marks the fourth year since beginning of one of the world's worst nuclear disasters: the triple reactor core meltdowns and catastrophic containment building failures at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power...

2014 has been a good year for ecological farming. Also called agroecology, this knowledge-rich type of farming which protects and sustains the diversity of life on earth is gaining recognition as farmers struggle to adapt to a changing...

The fields around Malles in the heart of the Venosta Valley in northern Italy are right now surrounded by thousands of yellow and red apples, ready to be harvested.
These apples–the real “gold” of this area, – will soon be produced...